The government increased efforts to identify and protect victims. The government reported identifying and referring to care 2,292 trafficking victims, the majority of whom were adults, including 461 sex trafficking and 1,532 labor trafficking victims, and 299 victims exploited in unspecified forms of trafficking. This compared with identifying and referring 1,185 victims to services during the previous reporting period. The majority of identified victims were Ivoirian; foreign national victims were from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and other West African countries. Due to the lack of a centralized data collection system and conflation of trafficking with other crimes, victim identification data likely included cases that were not human trafficking, including child labor, forced marriage (without reported indicators of sex or labor trafficking), and sexual abuse. NGOs identified 172 victims, including 32 sex trafficking and 140 labor trafficking victims. The government continued its program to identify vulnerable children using the streets as a source of livelihood, including potential trafficking victims; authorities referred the children to temporary shelters and, where possible, foster families. The government assisted approximately 5,500 vulnerable children through the program since 2020.
The government continued implementing an NRM with standardized procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims and refer them to care; law enforcement and regional protection actors utilized the NRM to refer more victims to services. The NRM directed law enforcement to alert CNLTP when officers identified a victim, and CNLTP subsequently coordinated victim referral to services. International organizations, with some government support, trained law enforcement, social workers, and other government stakeholders on the NRM procedures. However, government and civil society stakeholders reported officials required additional training to fully implement the NRM. The government typically referred adult trafficking victims to NGOs or host families and child victims to NGO and government-run shelters or foster families. Officials could also refer trafficking victims for psychological care to government-run centers for victims of abuse. The government provided food, medical care, and psycho-social support to victims. The government, in partnership with an NGO, operated three shelters for vulnerable children, including two dedicated shelters for child labor and trafficking victims. There was no government-run or supported shelter that could accommodate adult trafficking victims. A lack of coordination among government ministries hindered the provision of services in some cases. Law enforcement sometimes housed child trafficking victims in their offices for several days, providing basic necessities at their own expense until they could place the child in a shelter. The government donated 25 million FCFA ($42,445) in in-kind resources, including food and material support, to NGO shelters. However, observers reported government support for victim protection and services remained inadequate, and in many cases, NGOs funded and provided the majority of victim care.
Observers noted social workers lacked the resources and specialized training to effectively care for victims and monitor the reintegration of child victims. The lack of services, especially for adults, and lack of reintegration assistance rendered many victims vulnerable to re-victimization. Foreign victims had the same access to care as Ivoirian victims. The government did not have a formal policy providing temporary or permanent residency to foreign victims who faced hardship or retribution in their countries of origin. In some cases, the government depended on foreign victims’ home embassies to provide shelter and care prior to repatriation. The government repatriated Ivoirian migrants, including trafficking victims, from Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia and provided reintegration support.
Access to victim services was not dependent on cooperation with law enforcement proceedings. The government offered some victim-witness assistance, including legal support, shelter, and voluntary return assistance to support victim participation in the criminal justice process. However, observers reported the government did not always provide or refer trafficking victims to legal aid, which hindered victims’ ability to press charges against alleged traffickers and, for foreign victims, to address immigration issues. Stakeholders reported law enforcement sometimes used trauma-insensitive tactics when interviewing victims, including children. Trafficking victims could file civil suits against traffickers, but none reportedly did so. Ivoirian law allowed victims to obtain restitution, but the government did not report ordering restitution in any cases. Officials screened for trafficking indicators among migrants and individuals in commercial sex. However, due to inconsistent application of standardized victim identification procedures, some victims may have remained unidentified within the law enforcement system.
from 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – U.S. Department of State
2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State
